Work has finally begun on the 2016 Olympic golf course after delays caused by a legal dispute over ownership of the site.

The organizing committee for the Rio de Janeiro Games said on Wednesday that clearing work had begun to remove "non-native vegetation" after a permit was issued by the city. Construction is set to begin in April and Carlos Nuzman, head of the organizing committee, said the course would be ready for a test event in 2015.

The move should come as a relief to the International Olympic Committee, which has repeatedly downplayed the ongoing legal dispute but was officially notified about it by court officials during a recent inspection visit to Rio. Two different companies have claimed ownership of the land, with one having announced plans to build a housing complex there instead .